Responsibility
by Riani I
Summary: **SPOILERS** After Damian's death Dick struggles to come to terms with it, and to understand why he feels the way he does. His feelings of failure lead him to remember all his times with his adopted younger brother.


**Hi everyone this is my new Batman short it is in response to ****_Death of the Family _****which I just got to read. Dick Grayson has always been my favorite character, and seeing him go through the grief of losing a younger brother, a feeling I am all too familiar with, I just had to write this. It would be taking place after the fight before the funeral. It is going to be a summation of my favorite Damian/Dick moments from the comics too. At least, that's my plan currently. Also I'm still trying to work out all the New 52 changes in my head so forgive me if I mess something up there.**

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><p><em>"Are you with me Nightwing?" Damian said looking at Dick smiling, "The odds are completely against us."<em>

Dick grasped at his hair and wracked his brain trying to think why Damian the most spoiled and smug kid on the planet had randomly decided to have the heart to heart in the middle of a war zone.

Dick rubbed his eyes. He was sitting in his old room in Wayne Manor. He was supposed to be sleeping or at least resting, he had been injured badly in the fight earlier that night. He wanted to still be out there, to be looking for Talia... or Leviathan or whatever. But, Alfie had locked the door and threatened to tie him to a gurney if he tried to go back out.

Alfred had bandaged some of his more pressing wounds already, but he knew he would be given a full work over later, whether he liked it or not. He was still in his costume, minus his mask.

He still had blood on his hands and his costume.

Damian's.

Dick had almost forgotten he had carried Damian all the way home. The kid was so light, and he was in such a daze, he barely even noticed when Bruce and Alfred took the boy from him.

He looked around the room trying to find something else to focus on, but all he saw was the scattered clothes on the floor, and he realized they weren't his they were Damian's the kid had been staying in Dick's room apparently. He picked up a shirt, and looked at it, it was so small. His breath shuddered and tears threatened to make an appearance.

"Damn!" Dick threw the shirt hard across the room and fell back on the bed. Damian was 10 years old! How could he have forgotten that? He was a little kid._ I was nine. _Dick thought.

The kid was such a brat, he never did what he was told, and _he was my little brother. _Dick thought sadly.

He should have stopped him. He shouldn't have let him stay. As soon as he caught Damian out there he should have made him leave immediately whatever it took.

Dick tried to calm himself but the thoughts just kept flowing.

He should have helped him. He let that bastard Heretic take him out in one hit like some second-rate thug. He let Damian face that maniac alone. He was just a kid. He was only just starting act like it, too.

It had only been a few months ago when Damian had had his first crush, or what Dick thought amounted to crush for a kid raised by assassins.

_Dick pulled off his mask as walked into the bunker. "Damian? Al?" He looked all around, and didn't see anyone. Damian had been there when he had left. He ran to check and found Damian's uniform gone._

_"Ugh, damn that kid I told him-"_

_There was a sound from the roof. He went up and found Damian on his way in, waving goodbye to a girl in a familiar blue and red costume. _

_"Did Supergirl just drop you off?"_

_Damian ignored him and stormed down the stairs. _

_"Was that a date? Because if it was-Supergirl is way out of your league." _

_"Stop." Damian was getting irritated. A thought occurred to Dick._

_"Hold up...Do you have a crush on her?"_

_Damian didn't look at him, "Drop it."_

_Dick got excited, "You do! Wait until Alfred hears about this." At least the kid was starting to have some normal thoughts, it was a nice change._

_"I know thousands of ways to kill you, thousands, Grayson." Damian growled. _

Ah_ there he is, Dick thought._

_"Did she try to hit you? Bruce always said if a girl tries to hit you that means she likes you..." Dick chided._

_"It was a case nothing more." Damian stated blankly, "She was a fair and adequate partner..for an alien."_

_Uh huh, Dick thought._

That was their relationship..._had been_ their relationship. Dick teasing Damian and Damian threatening to kill him. That's what brothers were for right?

With the other two had taken up his mantle as Robin, Dick realized his relationship was much different. Jason had always been belligerent and Dick had always had difficulty connecting to him, of course the fact that he had been ticked off at Bruce for the majority Jason's stint as Robin, didn't help either. Now that Jason was Red Hood they definitely weren't overly simpatico.

Tim was different. He at least had formed a friendship with Tim after he became Robin. It had been awkward at first, with Tim seeing him as some sort of celebrity in the beginning, but they got along, and while Dick did see Tim as a brother, and a friend, after he became Red Robin and Bruce "died" there was a rift made there. They were still family, but the relationship had changed.

Damian had been Dick's responsibility. While Bruce's supposed death had created friction between him and his other brothers, Damian and he became closer.

It was an odd relationship, involving many more death threats than most, but it worked. Damian was slowly learning what it was like to be "normal kid." As normal as you could be going out and fighting crime every night.

His cellphone was ringing on his nightstand, but he ignored it. How could he have ever even entertained the idea he was ready to lead, ready to take up the mantle? He couldn't even keep one kid safe.

His time as Batman had been short, but in that time how many lives had been taken? How many times had Damian come close dying or doing something he would regret for life? How many times had he been reminded that he was a mere substitute for Bruce? Isn't that why he gave it up when Bruce came back? Isn't it?

Bruce had told him not to take up the mantle and, while at first he had listened, the toll on Gotham became too great, and he disobeyed. And when he took on the mantle he took on the responsibility of training and looking after Damian. He became the Bat, and Damian became Robin, _his Robin._

And, Damian took every moment he got to challenge Dick's claim to the Batman name.

_"Alfred, these chicken and jalepeño sandwiches are ferocious-I could eat them by the ton." Dick exclaimed shoving another bite into his mouth before looking back at the computer._

_"I'll try to arrange a forklift for the next delivery , Master Richard. And so begins in earnest your first week as Batman." Alfred said cooly._

_"Yeah, I wish I could shake this feeling I'm wearing a shroud." Dick sighed closing his eyes._

_Damian came marching up from working on the Batmobile chiding, "Ch! ...If you're not up to it, stand aside, Dick Grayson." Alfred and Dick looked at him ._

_"I was bred for the job, and trained in the arts of war by the master's of my mother's League of Assassin's. I could just as easily continue my father's work on my own." Damian said __seriously._

_Alfred raised an eyebrow. __Dick looked Damian square in the face, "Maybe one day Damian, but not today. Get in the car. Don't forget your mask."_

_Damian stomped off and got into the Batmobile, Dick looked at Alfred exasperatedly and followed the kid. Dick slid into the driver's seat next to Damian and started to pull out of the bunker._

_"Hmf." Damian pouted next to him. _

_Dick cracked a smile as he drove off, "Crime is doomed."_

Dick made a fist and slammed it into the bed "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

Damian was right. He was meant for so much more. Despite his beginnings the kid was turning out to be a great hero, Dick had watched the boy maturing right in front of him, Dick believed he could really be something great, but that was all over. Damian was lying broken, on a cold slab downstairs, and it was all Dick's fault.

His phone was ringing again, whoever was calling was really persistent. Maybe a shower would cool him off, help him to clear his mind for a minute. He trudged into the bathroom.

He was wrong, with the water running down his back and his muscles loosening the thoughts and memories flowed even faster. Dick held his head as it pounded. "No...no..."

He was such a useless sack of shit. One punch and he goes down, leaving Damian to fend for himself. How could he have done that happen? He was supposed to better than that. He was Nightwing, the original Robin, former Batman, son of Bruce Wayne. No that wasn't right...he wasn't Bruce's son, not really. His father was dead, he had been helpless then too. Only able to watch. Damian was Bruce's real son, and he had trusted him to Dick.

He had failed there too.

Why hadn't he just made Damian leave? Gotten him out? What was he thinking, that wouldn't have worked and he knew it, Damian had never listened to anyone.

_Damian jumped out of the car fuming, and Dick followed close behind him yelling, "I told you! Intimidation is one thing, but there have to be limits!"_

_Damian scoffed, "Limits! Ch!"_

_"We step over the line, and Gordon won't hesitate to hunt us down." Dick scolded._

_Damian never even looked back, "Let him try. I already promised my father I wouldn't kill. Now I'm supposed to be nice to the police, as well?"_

_Dick felt anger rising, "Being Batman and Robin isn't about working alone and thinking with your fists. What about your detective skills? WHAT ABOUT LEARNING HOW TO OBEY A DIRECT ORDER?" _

_Damian turned to face him and screamed back, "Look at you! This pathetic impersonation of my father makes a mockery of his memory! Keep your clues and your 'detective skills' and your limits." Damian glared at Dick. "I'll do this my way!"_

_Dick took a deep breath, "You're ten years old. You have a lot to learn, Damian."_

_Damian grit his teeth and reached up and clutched the 'R' patch on his chest and tore it off, "Then I'll find a teacher I respect!" _

_Damian tossed it over his shoulder and walked away as Dick yelled, "Get back here Damian! That's an order!"_

Dick sighed, at least that situation had worked out, thanks to Alfred. That was the thing he always had to have help. No matter what it was he always ended up having someone help him. Even when he broke away from the whole Batman and Robin gig the first time, somehow someway he always ended up needing help.

"Fuck!" He slammed his hands onto his dresser.

The door clicked open, "Dick, man you ok?"

Dick looked over and saw Tim peaking in at him. Dick sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "I'm fine, Tim" Dick sniffed.

"Look man, I know..."

"He wasn't even supposed to be out there, man..." Dick said softly.

"I know...but when have you ever known that kid to do what he was told?"

Dick stayed silent. Tim scratched his head. "Dick we are all upset about Damian, but you-"

"You hated Damian."

"No I did not...it was mutual dislike."

Dick chuckled against his will. Then he looked down feeling guilty for laughing. Tim looked at him like he was a wounded puppy.

Tim kicked his foot and searched the ground for something to say. "I remember not long after he became Robin and he challenged us all to see who was the better Robin. That day we had the portrait sitting. He and I had been bickering all day, Bruce was so fed up." Tim smirked a little.

Dick nodded, that was true, almost every time the boys came within 100 feet of each other they found something to fight about.

Tim turned to leave, but stopped, "Hey, I have a feeling Bruce is going to need us on this, I think he might...do something bad."

Dick looked at the ground quietly. There was more buzzing from his phone on the nightstand.

"Uh, are you gonna get that?" Tim asked. He looked at the dark look on Dick's face and left. The phone buzzed insistently.

The sound grated against Dick's ears. He grabbed the phone and angrily stabbed the answer button, "WHAT!"

"Dick..." a soft voice on the other end called his name.

It was Barbara. "Dick are you okay?"

Dick broke down. "I screwed up, Barb. He was my responsibility and I failed. I should have made sure he got out of there, not let him go running in full force. I such an idiot!"

He went on for several minutes and Barbara listened quietly, when he finished he was breathing fast, and almost didn't hear Barbara, "Dick, I know you're hurting, but you need to know that there was nothing you could have done. Damian would have run in no matter what you did. And, you need to be thinking about Bruce right now too. You know how he is, I really think he might do something he's going to regret you need to help him Dick."

"Who cares what Bruce does? Does no one even care that I lost someone tonight too? He was my _brother!" _

"Dick w-" Dick slammed his finger on the red button and threw the phone away.

No one seemed to give a crap about how he was handling this. He sat down on the bed and buried his face in his hands. He really wondered why in the world he was feeling this way. That brat had been a pain in his ass for nearly a year, and now he was holding back tears. Light was starting to peak in through his window, he had been up all night.

There was a soft knock on the door. "Go the hell away Tim!"

"I'm afraid I am not Master Timothy sir." Alfred said evenly.

Dick looked at Alfred apologetically, "Sorry Alfie."

"It is alright Master Richard. I have brought new bandages, and was wondering if require any assistance dressing."

"I'm good Alfie, thanks"

"Master Richard, if I may, I have cared for you since you were a boy, and if that means anything, you are most definitely not fine." Alfred look at him squarely.

"I failed him, Alfie. I failed Damian. I failed Bruce. I don't even deserve to be here."

"Master Richard, _you _did not fail anyone. If anyone failed it was me. I was tasked with keeping Master Damian away from the battlefield and I allowed him to leave the manor."

"No, Alfie, you didn't-"

"Master Bruce entrusted Damian to you because he knew you would teach him to experience joy, along with a sense of right and wrong. I believe you succeeded in that. Master Damian died doing what you taught him, protecting those who cannot protect themselves." Alfred said, he tightened the bandage he was putting on Dick's arm. He stood and found Dick's suit for him and set it on the bed next to Dick. He began to leave, "For what it is worth Master Richard, Master Damian looked up to you as a brother, and I believe your partnership helped you both to grow in your own ways. We will start the ceremony in an hour sir."

Dick sighed, Alfred always seemed to know what to say. He still felt guilty, but somehow he felt lighter. Alfred had been right about one thing, they had been the best.

_"Are you with me Nightwing?" Damian said looking at Dick smiling, "The odds are completely against us."_

_Dick laughed as he crouched behind the concrete wall, "When did we ever let something like that get in the way? Robin the Boy Wonder Damian."_

_Then Damian look at him square, with a look Dick had never seen on the kid, "So far you've been my favorite partner...we were the best Richard. No matter what anyone thinks."_


End file.
